Hold Me Close (Bridgewater County 4)

Ethan leaned in, murmured in her ear. “Imagine that plug being replaced with my cock.”

She bit her lip, looked up at him.

I patted my hand on her skirt covered ass, felt the handle of the plug. “Back to work,” I said, grabbing her notebook and steering her toward the door. I couldn’t help but chuckle, knowing she wasn’t going to get anything done for the rest of the day.

***

After falling back into my desk chair, I could have taken a nap after that playful bout of fucking, but even well pleasured, Rachel’s brain kicked back into work mode. “That message—” She pointed to the pink slip she’d brought in. “—You got a call from some guy at the San Francisco Giants.”

Ethan’s eyes widened as he settled into the chair in front of my desk. He didn’t look satiated any longer either.

“The Giants?” he asked.

“He said something about flying out there?” Rachel added. Her voice and her expression were filled with a question.

Aw hell, this wasn’t how I wanted to tell them about the new job. The potential new job. That was why I’d kept my phone calls to myself. It wasn’t a done deal and if I did get it—which was big if—I’d planned to break the news carefully to avoid a moment exactly like this one.

I scratched my head as they stared at me. Rachel looked expectant, hopeful even. Ethan looked ready to punch me in the jaw.

“Look, I can explain,” I said. “It all started six months ago. Well before you. Well before the rodeo even. It was an opportunity and I looked into it. That’s it.”

“Yeah, but it’s in San Francisco,” Ethan countered.

I nodded. “It’s a way of making it back to the big leagues. I don’t have the job. It’s just talk at this point.”

“And being flown to California,” Ethan added. He definitely didn’t like this possibility.

Rachel was still wearing her soft smile, but her eyes were filled with a sadness that made my chest ache.

I stood, went to her, took her hands in mine. “Baby, this doesn’t change anything. I still want to be with you. I want our family.”

She nodded quickly and her smile grew, although brittlely. “I’m happy for you, Matt. I really am.”

Before I could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Rachel went to it, opened it. One of the front desk receptionists spoke briefly to her. Rachel turned. “New guests need some help. Let me deal with them and I’ll be back.”

I stared after her even when the door swung closed. Much as I hated to see her go without resolving this, I was glad she wouldn’t be around to hear Ethan and me argue. I turned slowly, bracing myself.

“How could you keep this a secret?” he shouted.

Yup, there it was.

“Ethan, just let me explain—”

“When were you going to tell me?” he asked. “When were you going to tell Rachel?”

I tensed at that. Things with Rachel were so good, but so new. She was just starting to feel safe with us and we were all adjusting to the idea of potentially being parents and a true family. Hell, she had a plug in her ass for the first time. It had seemed too soon to broach the subject of moving or long distance relationships—the only two options if this dream job became a reality. I just hadn’t really expected it to.

“I was going to tell you both,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I only heard from them for the first time last week and I didn’t want to bring it up unless I got it. Otherwise, it would just stress everyone out for no reason. Like now.”

“Stress everyone out?” Ethan repeated. “Of course, it would. It has. We finally have everything we ever wanted and you’re about to ruin it.”

“I’m not ruining anything. Jesus, don’t be so melodramatic.” That was the wrong thing to say. His face turned beet red and for a second I thought he might have a stroke.

“Matt, we’re trying for a baby. Hell, we just fucked her over your desk. We’ve taken her bare from the start. For weeks. Do you understand what that means?”

I had to tread carefully. “Listen, man, I know what I signed up for with you and Rachel and I’m not backing out on that.”

“Obviously, since you just fucked her.” He pursed her lips, said nothing more. His silence felt like judge, jury and executioner. Dammit, he wasn’t even giving me a chance to explain. My anger started to rise to his level. This was exactly why I hadn’t told him in the first place. I knew he’d overreact.